Of Loss and Change
by jayer
Summary: A horrific crime strikes and the Tragers face the possible loss of an unexpected addition to the family. Note: I wrote this sometime during season two but never posted it
1. Chapter 1

The house was quiet as he opened the door. He pulled off his jacket, shaking off the rain and hanging it on the hook.

He didn't bother turning on the light as he crossed the kitchen, opening the refrigerator and reaching for a bottle of water. A noise made him pause. It sounded like a creak. Like someone was stepping ever so slightly. But there was no one home. He was alone.

The wind slammed a branch against the windows, making him jump.

"Just the wind, you doofus." He laughed at him. He downed the bottle of water in only a couple of gulps and tossed the empty bottle into the recycling bin in the corner.

Crossing the dark room, he stopped. Something felt wrong. No something smelt wrong. Metallic almost. First thought was ozone from the storm. But something told him no. Something told him it wasn't that. It was something else.

As he reached the hallway, he slid his hand across the wall to flip on the light switch.

He barely had time to register the presence of someone else before he felt a sharp pain, the sense of falling and darkness.


	2. Chapter 2

"Male. 16 years old. Blunt force trauma to the head, chest and abdomen." The paramedic clipped off the stats with practiced efficiency as the ER doctors pushed the gurney down the short hall and into the trauma room. "Penetrating wound to the mid chest, right side."

"What the hell happened?" A nurse queried as the team carefully lifted the boy onto the exam table.

"Police weren't sure but they think he came home and interrupted a robbery."

"Damn shame. Sweet looking boy." The nurse tsked as she swiftly inserted an IV into the boy's arm. "Reminds me of my nephew."

The movement in the room quickly turned into a strange dance as the team examined the boy.

"Get me four units of O-neg and get this kid typed."

"I've got a bleeder here."

"His lung is collasping. Let's tube him"

As they fought to keep the boy alive, they tried to avoid looking at the faces of the couple standing outside watching with panic in their eyes.


	3. Chapter 3

Lori and Josh sat impatiently in the waiting room.

"I wish they would come tell us something." Lori hissed, looking down the hall where her parents had disappeared it felt hours before.

Josh sat quiet, lost in thought, in fear. "He can't die." He murmured to himself.

"Has there been any news?" A voice made them jump.

"Amanda." Lori stood, half hugging the girl who was her neighbor and new found friend. "You didn't have to come."

Amanda shrugged. "I wanted to. Besides, waiting at home was worse."

"He's in surgery. He lost a lot of blood and his lung collapsed. And he might have a concussion." Lori tried to keep her voice steady.

"How terrible." Amanda glanced over at the lone figure by the window. "How's he . . ."

"Not so great. They've gotten pretty close over the last couple of months." Lori turned as she heard footsteps.

Nicole and Steven sat down without a word. Their eyes betrayed the fear their hearts felt.

"Mom?" Josh spoke up, uncertain.

Nicole shook her head. "Nothing yet." She reached out and pulled her son into a bear hug. Once upon a time, Josh had loved curling up next to his mother, cuddling in the safety of her arms. She missed those days and would have loved for them to return. But not like this. Not under the veil of losing something they had all grown to love, each in their own way.

"It's going to be okay." Steven said, trying to rally his motley family together. But in his heart he wasn't so sure.


	4. Chapter 4

"Mr and Mrs Trager?"

"Detective Breen." Nicole carefully detangled herself from Josh, trying not to wake him or the other children. "Why don't we talk in the hall?"

"I have a couple of questions. If you don't mind."

"Of course." Steven nodded.

"I understand the boy, Declan, is a friend of your children."

"Yes. He's dating Lori and he's in classes both with her and Kyle."

"Do you know where he was this evening?"

"He and Kyle both want to try out for the school basketball team. After class they went to the recreation center. Declan and another friend Charlie Tanner have been coaching Kyle on his defense playing."

"How late was that?"

"I guess Declan dropped Kyle off about six. His father works late a lot so we invited him to stay for dinner. The kids started watching some movie that came on tv. He left just after nine."

Breen nodded. "According to the dispatcher at Palisades Security, the alarm was turned off at nine. That would have been Mr McDonough. We found his body in the hallway off the kitchen. The television, stereo, computer were all missing from the den. The shelves were ransacked in that room and in the bedrooms. The medicine cabinets in the bathrooms were tossed. The burglars were likely looking for any prescription medications they could get high from. There were some broken bottles in the liquor cabinet, spots that looked like at least a couple of bottles were missing.

"There was no evidence of forced entry so my theory is that the burglar or burglars were casing houses, watching to see who was home and who wasn't. May have picked out the McDonough house as an easy target. Plans change when McDonough returned home, used a ruse to get in the house. With this rain storm, no one would suspect a guy claiming to have car trouble and needing to call Triple A. Smart move, no alarm triggered so they'd have more time to work. From the signs of struggle, when the ruse was blown, Mr McDonough fought back and was killed for his trouble."

"How terrible. " Nicole gasped.

"According to the security guard who was on patrol when the panic alarm went off, he found Declan wounded and unconscious in the kitchen. From the blood trail it looks like he was attacked as he entered the hallway, then crawled back to the door to trip the alarm." Breen consulted his notes for a moment. "The 911 call came in at 9:55. Declan probably surprised the burglars as they were leaving. His wallet was in the hallway, no cash or cards inside."

"They beat him up, stabbed him, robbed him and left him for dead."

Breen nodded. "This isn't the first robbery in that area, but typically it's smash and grab when the family is out for the day, on vacation. This is the first time anyone has been hurt."

"This seems like serious overkill, pardon the pun." Steven interjected. "I can understand if Declan's father put up a fight, someone panics, he gets stabbed and they run. He bleeds to death before he can get help. But attacking Declan like this. Why not just knock him out and run for it."

"I don't know, Mr Trager." Breen shook his head. "But if there were drugs involved, the attackers may have been so wacked out that they just went crazy."

"Thank you, Detective." Nicole nodded solemnly. "If you'll excuse me. I'm going to see if there's an update on Declan. The kids will be asking when they wake up."

Steven stood silent, pondering the horrible tale the Detective had told, praying the news his wife brought back would not be bad. He wasn't sure he could handle telling his children the worst had come true.


	5. Chapter 5

The first thing he felt was pain. Everywhere. A dull roar over his whole body.

The second thing was that his room smelled strange. The bed didn't feel like his own, the smells were all . . . off.

He sensed, rather than heard, someone in the room. He was tempted to open his eyes but fear that it would make the pain worse made him pause.

"He's waking up." A soft but familiar female voice drifted to his ears.

"I hurt." He murmured.

There was a light chuckle. "I would imagine you do."

Declan slowly opened his eyes to find Lori's parents sitting by his bed. "Where am I?"

"At the hospital." Mrs Trager gently pushed a stray lock of hair off his face. "Do you remember what happened?"

"I drove home. Grabbed a bottle of water out of the frig and headed up to my room. I was reaching for the hall light when . . ." Declan paused. "I think someone hit me."

"We can talk about all that later." Nicole smiled softly. "Lori and the others are outside. They came as soon as school was over."

"How long have I been here?"

"A while. Why don't we get them so they can see you're awake and then you can get some rest. We'll talk later about everything."

Declan nodded. Mr Trager walked outside and left him alone with Mrs Trager. "Where's my father?"

"He couldn't be here. We'll talk about it later, okay?"

"Oh my gawd." Lori half ran in. "You are so the attention hog." She teased before softly kissing him on the cheek.

"Hey Trager." Declan laughed, sending a sharp pain through his side. "Bad move." He winced. "Hey Kyle. Amanda."

"Hi" Amanda smiled softly.

"You look terrible." Kyle said with his typical but innocent bluntness.

"I feel worse."

"I'm glad you are alive."

"Me too." Declan smiled. "Hey Josh."

"Dude."

"You worried I was going to kick it before you could have that rematch." Declan teased. He grinned as Josh laughed. "Made you smile."

Declan glanced around the room. "I don't know what happened but you guys all look like the world ended. It's making me feel like I should have died so you wouldn't be disappointed."

"It's not that." Lori gulped.

"Okay then chill. I'm okay. Whatever happened, I survived. That's good right."

"That's great." Amanda nodded.

"Very great." A balding doctor in scrubs interjected. "However, your friend needs to rest and recover, so visiting hours are over. We'll take good care of him and have him back to making mischief in a few days. I promise."

The doctor shooed them towards the door.

"Hey Doc, can I have a sec with Kyle? Please?"

The doctor nodded. "Make it snappy."

Declan waited until they were alone.

"Tell me straight. My dad's dead isn't it."

"Declan."

"I saw him, on the floor. I saw the blood before they knocked me out."

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah. The guy was a total jerk but he was still my dad. I loved him even if he didn't love me. And no one should die like that."

"Don't tell Nicole and Steven I told you. They made us promise. Steven said it would upset you too much right now."

"It'll probably hit later."

"I should go."

"Kyle, wait. There's something else. Something you need to know."

Declan took a slow, deep breath. "Foss was there. After the other guy jumped me. I woke up, Foss was calling my name. I don't know why he came to the house. He carried me into the kitchen, made it look like I crawled in there by myself. He said it had to be that way. That they were cleaning up the mess. That we have to be careful because they would send other people to try again. That it wasn't enough to get rid of you, there can't be anyone that knows what you can do. He said he was going to find a way to stop them. That he'd be watching out for us. That he'd do everything he could to keep us from getting hurt. But to be careful and stick together. And then he tripped the alarm."

Kyle nodded. "I shouldn't have come back."

"No Kyle. I think they were going to do this anyway."

"Time's up, boys." A nurse came in the room.

Declan pulled Kyle down to whisper in his ear. "Be careful, Kyle. They get you and my dad died for nothing."

"I'll keep them safe." Kyle said solemnly.

Declan grinned. "So much for being normal."

"Yeah."


End file.
